Tagged: Phanatic

The Phillies probably cannot wait to hit the road. They simple cannot score runs or win in their home ballpark as evidenced by yet another homestand sweep (0-6) this season. It was only the fourth time in history the Phillies have been swept during a homestand where they played more than one team. Today’s 0-2 loss to the Braves sealed the historic mark.

In fact, the most exciting thing that happened all day was the pre-game wrestling match between the Phanatic and Braves catcher, Anthony Recker. First, there was taunting. And then a challenge:

Then the fight began:

And Recker declared victory, much to the delight of his teammates.

It was the first of two Braves wins on the day. The second began with the sound of bats whiffing.

And when the Phillies did make contact, not much happened. There was yet another opportunity to score in the 5th inning, but as has been the case many, many times this year, 3rd base coach Juan Samuel held the runner, Freddy Galvis, at third on a Peter Bourjos double. When a team is struggling this badly to score, you have got to take a shot there. Because the odds of the next batter or two getting that run in are very slim, based on this offensive’s past behavior. So it was just another frustrating inning.

All the while, pitcher Jake Thompson pitched extremely well, despite the lack of run support. He allowed only one run, a Matt Kemp solo shot, over 7 innings.

By the way, where was that hurricane we were supposed to get? Oh wait, it was just the Braves blowing through town taking the Phillies dignity with them…sigh.

Super depressing, right? Just to cheer you up, here are a few “fun” shots from the game. One looks like Darin Ruf is giving birth to a baseball 😉 Tommy Joseph: “Check, please!” Galvis: “Pleeease can we get a win? I’ll be your best friend!”

With a 7-2 win today, the Phillies collected the series win against the defending World Champion Royals. The fun began even before the game started as the Phanatic tormented Royals player Salvador Pérez by dumping a bucket of confetti on him. Perez tried to fight back by tossing water, but the Phanatic used a small child as a human shield to avoid the soaking. Eventually, Perez stole the Phanatic’s car keys and then they made up.

More excitement ensued in the first inning when, after only 5 pitches, the manager, pitching coach, team trainer and half the team made a visit to the pitching mound to check on starter Vince Velasquez. His velocity was down around 85-90mph, which triggered panic, especially since Velasquez is fresh off an injury. But Velasquez pitched well, despite the slow down of his fastball. He went 6 innings and allowed only 2 runs.

In the bottom of the 1st, Cameron Rupp kick-started the offense with a 3-run homer. The Phillies went on to score 7 runs on 3 homers and 11 total hits. Cody Asche and Maikel Franco also hit long balls.

Asche also shattered his bat during another plate appearance, sending Royals scrambling for cover. Luckily, no one was hurt.

The bullpen was able to hold down the lead after Velasquez left the game. Edubray Ramos, Hector Neris and Jeanmar Gomez finished out the game strong with little drama.

So after a very bad month-long stretch where seemingly nothing went right, it looks like the Phillies are finally back on track. Here is the fullPhoto Album from the game.

The Phillies begin a series tomorrow against the Braves at 4:05pm. Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Everyone entered the ballpark on Sunday worried about a wash out. Huge, violent storms were predicted to start close to game time. But instead of rainstorms, the Phillies provided thunder with their bats in the final game against the Brewers.

It was another Retro Night at the ballpark, so the Phillies wore 1970’s uniforms. They also brought Mike Schmidt and Greg “The Bull” Luzinski to toss first pitched in honor of the 70’s. And of course, no 70’s revival is complete with the streaking Phanatic.

Aaron Nola started the game and, despite getting into some rough spots, he pitched very well. Nola did not allow a run over 6 innings, striking out 9 Brewers. The defense pitched in, as well, to keep runs off the board.

And then the Phillies bats suddenly came to life. Odubel Herrera had his 4th 4-hit game of his career. The only Phillies position player without a hit was Freddy Galvis, but he did collect an RBI on a sacrifice.

In the 5th inning, things really heated up. Tommy Joseph hit what appeared to be a 3-run homer, which was called back as a double due to fan interference. Here are the three idiots who nearly ruined a good inning, celebrating as they got tossed out:

For the record, real fans do not risk losing runs for their team just to snag a baseball. Rant over…

Luckily, newcomer Jimmy Paredes took over and hit a no-doubt-about-it 3-run homer. Not to be left out, Cameron Rupp smashed a solo shot right after that. The Phillies scored 5 runs in the inning, which is their highest total in an inning this year.

The Phillies went on to win the game easily by a score of 8-1. They were able to split the 4-game series with the Brewers, which is great considering how sluggish this offense has been lately.

Where did this Phillies team come from? It looked early on like another bad, rebuilding season was upon us. But this young team has now won 9 of their last 10 games, sweeping both the Nationals and Indians in the last week. Crazy.

Before the big win, the Phillies hosted their annual Mother’s Day celebration which began with Cameron Rupp’s mom tossing him the first ball; that was adorable. And, of course, the Phanatic’s mom was around later in the game as well.

Vince Velasquez started the game in the rain and miserable cold. Still, he pitched well without allowing any runs over 6 innings.

There was not much offense in the game; it was certainly not hitting weather today. But the Phillies managed a few hits and scored twice in the 3rd inning.

Some adventurous plays in the field were also on the schedule. Darin Ruf had the highlight of the game with a diving catch in left field. When did Ruf suddenly become Mr. Super-outfielder? And then Maikel Franco turned a routine pop-up into a dare-devil grab:

So the Phillies walked away with a 2-1 win. They are back on the road tomorrow after this brief home stand, playing St. Louis on Monday night. Can they keep the win streak alive? We shall see…

Revenge is sweet. After losing badly in the first two games against the Nationals, the Phillies came back with a walk-off win in 10 innings by beating ex-Phillie Jonathan Papelbon. As most fans are aware, Papelbon had nothing nice to say about Philadelphia when he left (and before he left, too). So it was great to hand him his first blown save of the year.

The celebration, however, began early with the Phanatic’s annual birthday bash. All the usual suspects were present.

As the game began, it was clear quickly that Charlie Morton was about to have another solid game. Nats hitters looked confused at the plate. Morton allowed only 1 run in 6 innings and struck out 6 batters.

But the offense was not doing much, as has been the theme this year so far. The Phillies scored only 1 run through 9 innings and that was a solo home run from Carlos Ruiz. It was his second of the year, which by the way, was his home run total in 2015.

So the Phillies defense had their work cut out for them. Also the replay monitors got quite a workout. The Phillies challenged 3 calls and won two of them. Those would turn out to be huge decisions.

Then in the 10th inning, Peter Bourjos doubled and then scored on a single from Andres Blanco to tie the game and watch Papelbon squirm as he blows the save. That brought Freddy Galvis to the plate, who smacked a double for the walk-off win, as Blanco scored. Check out the video from MLB:
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You know it has been a rough day when you look back and realize the game highlight was seeing the Phanatic pinch an umpires behind. And yes, that was as good as it got today for the Phillies who went down in flames to the Padres by a score of 4-9.

I am pretty sure when Alec Asher pictured his major league debut, this was not what he had in mind. Asher was not awful, but allowed 4 runs in 5 2/3 innings on 8 hits and a walk. Three of those runs were due to home runs by Matt Kemp and Justin Upton. On the plus side, Asher’s father was able to announce his first at-bat over the PA system. Apparently, he used to be the announcer for the Lakeland Tiger’s Class A team.

The rest of the team did little to help Asher’s cause. Of course, Cameron Rupp, who is on a home run tear, smacked another one that was very impressive. Odubel Hererra had 4 hits, but got thrown out stealing once and leaning too far off first another time. Beyond that, not much positive was happening.In fact, the bullpen was flat out horrendous. Hector Neris gave up a home run in one inning of work. And Adam Loewen allowed 4 runs without ever recording an out. And just not to be left out, Justin DeFratus allowed yet another run to score in the 9th inning. All 3 guys have ERA’s near or above 5, with Loewen’s 9.00 being the worst. It is really too bad because he has such great hair. I was rooting for the hair 😉

So the Phillies are off to New York to face the dreaded Mets again. And with this bullpen, the prospects are bleak. Cross your fingers…